Chrysler 100C mule spotted

KGP just snapped their first physical, real-world proof that Chrysler is well along in the development of the Chrysler 100, a 4-door hatchback to sell under the Chrysler 200 sedan. The car, listed in the 2009 Five Year Plan, is reportedly based on the Dodge Dart sedan, and the mules use some Alfa Giulietta sheet metal along with their Chrysler grilles. They were photographed during cold-weather tests.

Beyond the mules’ Chrysler grilles, the rear bumper and exhaust are extended well beyond the Dart mules’ bumper, suggesting greater rear overhang in the interest of greater cargo capacity. The front fender also differs from the Dart mules, with an extended nose clip that appears to result in higher hoodline. From this mule, it would seem that the Chrysler 100 is being designed more with utility and cargo capacity in mind, rather than chasing the hot hatch formula.

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Marchionne’s speech at Belvidere

Good morning to you all.

I am delighted that you could join us today for this significant celebration, and I’d like to begin by thanking a number of people who have played a big part in making this day possible.

First of all I want to thank Governor Quinn for his efforts to make this investment possible.

I’d like to thank Mayor Brereton and the Belvidere City Council for always believing in Chrysler and its workers.

And finally, Ron McInroy, the UAW Region 4 Director, who is here and will also speak to you this morning.

Our partnership with the UAW has played an essential role in enabling today’s celebration.

Now personally, this is a visit that has been due for a long period of time because of what this plant means to the overall success of Chrysler and moreover for the example that the workers here at Belvidere have been able to set.

It is no secret that this plant has always been one of the best assembly plants within Chrysler for performance, for productivity, and it is a benchmark which is now being measured against the European plants of Fiat and Belvidere continues to shine among the top performers of the whole group.

I don’t know whether they’ve told you but there was a recent study that was carried out by Harbour that measured the competitiveness of 34 plants across Europe and North America and Belvidere – and this is not just within the Fiat-Chrysler world but it’s across our competitors, and Belvidere ranked 3rd out of 34 so –

You just got a couple of spots to close and then we’re done.

The Jeep brand was recognized as the most reliable domestic brand in 2011 by Consumer Reports, and the Patriot, the car that you build here, was selected as the most reliable Jeep model.

And these are just – These are just two of the very impressive results that this plant has achieved and can be proud of.

None of them would have been possible without the efforts that the men and women here at the Belvidere Assembly Plant have shown in investing in their jobs and in the steadfast faith that they have demonstrated in Chrysler, in themselves, and ultimately in each other.

Moments like this are moments that go beyond celebration. They’re also occasions to reflect on how we got here, and why.

I know that the times you endured in the recent past were not easy.

In 2009, when a new Chrysler emerged from bankruptcy, there was only one shift in this plant, and fewer than 200 people were working throughout this building, with little hope and tremendous uncertainty.

Now, the story that we’ve all written together since then is something which is simply exceptional.

Just six months after the creation of the new Chrysler, we were able to add a second shift and to hire hundreds of workers; workers who at the beginning were temporary, but very soon became permanent.

Today, we’re here to celebrate the start of a significant new chapter in this plant’s history.

The $600 million investment that we announced at the end of 2010 has now grown to almost $700 million, and it is now a reality. This has allowed us to open a state-of-the-art-body shop; to drive out waste and increase worker involvement by introducing World Class Manufacturing; and to transform Belvidere into one of the safest and the most efficient assembly plants in the world.

Above all, this investment will enable us to start, in a few months, the production of the new Dodge Dart that was named the “Most Significant Vehicle” at the North American International Auto Show in Detroit in January.

The Dart is a groundbreaking new car. It represents a big step in achieving outstanding fuel economy, and it will change consumer perceptions about what they can expect in a compact sedan. And it’s completely, totally, proudly made here in the United States.

Now, I’m also delighted to be here today to announce that we will soon be adding a third crew here at Belvidere. In total, this means that we’re going to be adding more than 1,800 new jobs by this summer to support the new production of the Dart and the third crew, providing a more certain and solid future for the plant and for all the people that work here.

It was not by chance that we chose Belvidere to make this investment and to build the new Dodge Dart because with the new Dart, we are setting out to play in a highly competitive crucial automotive segment, a segment that accounts for about 15 percent of the U.S. market and 23 percent of the Canadian market. Our decision is evidence of the faith we have in your level of commitment and in your passion to deliver great products for our customers. You have been essential in our ability to author a remarkable story of recovery.

And so I’m here also to express my sincere gratitude for your dedication, and for your hard work, and for helping us create a work environment which is dedicated to quality, and with the flexibility to compete with the best plants anywhere in the world.

I also want to recognize that giving back to the community is part and parcel of the DNA at Belvidere Assembly. Your outstanding support for programs such as the United Way, the Holiday Wish Program, and the Giving Tree, among others, goes a long way towards making the Belvidere area a better place to live and a better place to work.

Now, I’ve been told that when someone asks you where you work, the most common reply, even before “in the town of Belvidere,” is “in the middle of a cornfield”.

What I can tell you is that you are working in the middle of a great project; a project that speaks of cultural integration and production excellence.

The truth is that you will be building the first Chrysler Group vehicle to feature a Fiat-derived architecture, which was adapted from the award-winning Alfa Romeo Giulietta.

The truth is that you are working in a plant that is an example of the kind of mosaic that we aim to create between our two companies, between Chrysler and Fiat; a mosaic in which each piece has a clear identity and yet is interconnected with the other pieces, forming a strong overall design.

Here there are workers who come from far away – from Alabama, from New York, Indianapolis, Detroit, St. Louis, Kokomo, Delaware, and New Jersey – but as a team, you could not be closer. Wherever you came from, you all share the same strong work ethic and the same unrelenting commitment to the values that guide the new Chrysler: of renewal, of a willingness to engage in competition, to better oneself every day, of service to others and the communities in which we live, in creating the conditions for a better future for our children.

You are the new Chrysler. Your efforts have enabled us to revive this company and put Chrysler on a path to regain its rightful place as a great car company.

I want to thank you again for all you’ve done, but more importantly for who you are and what you are.

Thank you all.

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Fiat puts small Jeep on hold to replace Sedici

Automotive News is reporting that the small Jeep slated for production in Fiat’s Mirafiori plant in Turin has been bumped back a year to allow Fiat to get its own version of the “B-SUV,” as it’s known inside the company, into production earlier.

Fiat needs the new vehicle to replace its Sedici. The Sedici was developed jointly by Fiat and Suzuki and introduced in 2006. It’s a clone of the Suzuki SX4 that’s sold in the United States but the Fiat version is built in the Suzuki plant in Esztergom, Hungary. The Sedici received a mild facelift for this year but sales are falling: in 2011, volume dropped 10 percent to 14,000 units.

Fiat announced it will postpone the planned upgrades at the Mirafiori plant until late 2013. Mirafiori will continue to build the Alfa Romeo MiTo and Lancia Musa.

Production of the junior Jeep is now scheduled to begin in the second quarter of 2014.

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Meet Ellezero

Fiat today released the first official images of the upcoming 500L, the larger, 5-passenger, please-don’t-call-it-a-station-wagon, multi-purpose vehicle (MPV) that will join the 500 and upcoming 500 Abarth in Fiat’s U.S. lineup next year.

As Fiat describes it: “With MPV passenger space combined with the feel of a small SUV on the road and the restrained dimensions and efficiency of a B segment car, the new Fiat model defies the conventional distinctions between the various segments, combining the typical characteristics of different categories in order to create a distinctive alternative to the traditional B and C segments.”

Previously known as “Ellezero” (L-zero) to the Italian press, the 500L is based on the platform used for the new Punto and derives some of its design cues from the popular Fiat Panda. The new car 500L will be produced at the Fiat plant in Kragujevac, Serbia. It will go on sale in Europe in the last quarter of 2012 and be offered there with three different engines, the TwinAir and 1.4-liter gasoline engines and the 1.3-liter MultiJet II turbodiesel.

The 500L will take its first bows at the Geneva Auto Show next month.

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1800 jobs for Belvidere

Chrysler Group LLC announced today that it will add about 1,800 jobs at its Belvidere Assembly Plant. The hiring includes workers for a third crew and hundreds of jobs the company needs to fill by the third quarter of 2012 for production of the Dodge Dart.

With these new jobs, the Company will have added nearly 4,000 hourly position in the U.S. since the formation of the new company in June 2009. In total, Chrysler has grown by nearly 10,000 employees since emerging from bankruptcy.

Chrysler CEO Sergio Marchionne confirmed the plans this morning during a ceremony at the plant with Illinois Governor Pat Quinn, Belvidere Mayor Frederic Brereton, UAW Region 4 Director Ron McInroy and hundreds of current employees. The last time Belvidere ran three shifts was in March 2008 when there were about 3,600 employees. When all hiring is complete, the employee population will be more than 4,500.

In addition to the jobs announcement, Marchionne acknowledged that the previously announced $600 million investment in a new 638,000-square-foot, state-of-the-art body shop had grown to nearly $700 million. The investment also included the installation of new machinery, tooling and material handling equipment exclusively for the production of the Dart.

“It was not by chance that we chose Belvidere to make this investment and build the new Dodge Dart,” Marchionne told employees. “Our decision is evidence of the faith we have in your level of commitment and your passion to deliver great products for our customers. You have been essential in our ability to author a remarkable story of recovery.

“I want to thank Governor Quinn, Mayor Brereton and the UAW for working with us to bring jobs, investment and a new product to this area,” said Marchionne. “With their help and this dedicated workforce, we are creating a work environment here in Belvidere that is dedicated to quality, and with the flexibility to compete with the best plants anywhere in the world.”

“This announcement is proof that America’s auto industry is indeed back,” said General Holiefield, Vice President, UAW Chrysler Department. “With the continued commitment and hard work of its UAW-represented workers, Chrysler will continue to add more good manufacturing jobs and introduce more industry-leading vehicles, securing the future for the Company and its entire workforce.”

The new jobs will be added as part of an innovative operating pattern that allows the plant to run an additional 49 days per year. The 3-2-120 schedule, as the operating pattern is called, utilizes three crews, working four 10-hour straight-time days per week for a total of 120 hours of production time. A typical two shift production schedule provides 80 hours per week of production time. Compared to a traditional plant schedule, individual employees on a 3-2-120 schedule work 49 fewer days per year, but the plant operates 49 more days.

Interested in being part of the new crew at Belvidere? You can apply online at www.hourlychryslerjobs.com. For salaried and skilled trades positions, visit www.chryslercareers.com.

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Mopar launches: updated

Update: Allpar now has exclusive interior and exterior photography of these launches. See the pages below.

In a ceremony webcast on many sites (including Allpar), Mopar revealed four custom vehicles from its Center Line headquarters. The only one to be sold as a full Mopar-branded car is the Mopar ’12 300; the others are essentially packages for existing cars, the Dodge Dart “GTS 210 Tribute,” Fiat 500 “Stinger,” and Mopar Jeep® Compass “True North.” (Dan Minick pointed out that Dodge Stinger was Allpar’s suggested name for a Dodge B-segment, three years ago.) Of some note, with a free-flowing exhaust and modified computer, the Dodge Dart GTS tribute surpasses the Dart R/T’s normal 184 horsepower to reach 210 horsepower, a substantial gain and an indication of things to come.

The Mopar ’12 300 will be available this summer, while components of the Fiat 500, Jeep Compass, and Dodge Dart cars will be available in the fall as kits or á la carte from the Mopar catalog. They will also be shown in Chicago from February 10-19.

• Mopar past and present
• Mopar ’12 300
• 2013 Dodge Dart GTS Tribute
• Fiat 500 Stinger, Mopar Compass True North
• Interview with Mopar CEO Pietro Gorlier

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